“Save a Life Day 2017” Equipped Members of the Public to Intervene in an Emergency

Wicklow Rapid Response and Wicklow Town Cardiac First Responders held their second ‘Save a Life Day’ at Sinnott Skoda, Wicklow Town on Saturday 20th May.

Sinnott Autos have sponsored the WWRR rapid response vehicle for the past two years, enabling WWRR to bring the emergency department to the patient in the cases of life threatening illness or injury.

The event was designed to promote public awareness about the Chain of Survival and the important role that members of the public can play in this Chain of Survival, in order to save a life before the arrival of the professional emergency services.

Save a Life Day was also promoting the role of the volunteer Community Cardiac First Responders (CFRs) who respond in their local community and the senior clinical level that the Volunteer Doctor ofWicklow Rapid Response can bring to the Chain of Survival in County Wicklow.

The event was attended by representatives of the National Ambulance Service, Wicklow Fire Service, Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team and Blood Bikes East in addition to Community First Responders and the Wicklow Rapid Response Doctor.

Free training in the recognition and management of cardiac arrest, defibrillation and choking was provided to all members of the public who attended, with the result that many members of the public in Wicklow are now aware of how they can help in the case of an emergency.

WWRR were delighted to be joined on the day by Alison Slater and her family. Ali was one of the youngest patients attended to by WWRR and the National Ambulance Service when she suffered a life threatening anaphylactic reaction on

Valentine’s day this year. The WWRR doctor was first on scene and administered medication to reverse the reaction while the ambulance was en route. The WWRR doctor accompanied the patient to hospital, where she made a full recovery.

WWRR Chairman, Colm Dempsey said: “This case was a perfect example of WWRR and the National Ambulance Service delivering an integrated response to a life threatening emergency. Because the WWRR Skoda Yeti, RRV is tracked by ambulance control, the dispatcher was able to direct the doctor to the scene as the closest resource, followed by the emergency ambulance.”

The Volunteer Doctor and the WWRR team are, when available, always ready to respond to critical emergencies at the request of the National Ambulance Service.

Editor Notes:

Community First Responders such as Wicklow Town CFRs and similar CFR groups across Co. Wicklow, are volunteers who live or work in their community and help by providing an early response in the provision of primary lifesaving support to people who have called 999/112 and requested an ambulance because they are dealing with a Cardiac Arrest, Heart Attack (Chest Pain), choking or someone having a Stroke.

The Ambulance Service Control Centre alerts CFRs when required, and the volunteer responders who are on duty will respond and provide care to the patient till the Ambulance arrives.

All volunteers are trained to become A Cardiac First Responder and they will successfully complete a Pre Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC) approved Cardiac First Response course.

Chain of Survival

Sadly over 5,000 people in Ireland die every year in out of hospital cardiac arrests.

For every minute a patient is in cardiac arrest, their chances of survival decrease by 10%. It is essential that members of the public are able to perform CPR and use a defibrillator in the first few minutes.

The 5 links in the chain of survival are:

Recognition of cardiac arrest and activation of the emergency response system

Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with an emphasis on chest compressions

Rapid defibrillation

Basic and advanced emergency medical services

Advanced life support and post-cardiac arrest care

Thanks to the combined efforts of all involved, these links were completed at scene.

Wicklow Rapid Response is a voluntary organisation, which aims to provide near Intensive Care level treatment for our local communities in the pre-hospital environment, where there are life-threatening circumstances. Our volunteer emergency medical Doctor, who specialises in pre hospital emergency medicine, using the Skoda Yeti Rapid Response vehicle, to rapidly respond is declared as a National Ambulance Service Assets. He is called simultaneously with the Ambulance, when a serious emergency occurs.

Wicklow Town CFR meets monthly for training and is always seeking new volunteers to respond and fundraise Contact: cfrwicklowtown@gmail.com

Wicklow Rapid Response is a voluntary organisation, which aims to provide near IntensiveCritical Care level treatment for our local communities in the pre-hospital environment, where there are life-threatening circumstances.

The volunteer doctor, Dr. David Menzies is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at St. Vincent's University Hospital and specialises in pre hospital emergency medicine and education.

He responds from home or from his places of work, at the request of the National Ambulance Service Emergency Operations Centre.

Using the Skoda Yeti Rapid Response vehicle generously sponsored by Sinnott Autos, Wicklow, he responds as a declared National Ambulance Service asset. The Doctor is called simultaneously with the Ambulance, when a serious emergency occurs.

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Press Release
September 2016

Life Saving Wicklow Rapid Response Service

to Continue in 2017

Thanks to generous support
from Sinnott Skoda, Wicklow Town, Wicklow Rapid Response, the voluntary pre
hospital emergency critical care service is set to continue into 2017.

Sinnott Autos renewed their
sponsorship of Wicklow Rapid Response for the coming year and last week handed
over the keys to a 162-WW Skoda Yeti
‘Sherpa’ 4x4 for use by the Wicklow Rapid
Response doctor.

Over the past 12 months,
the WWRR Doctor has
voluntarily responded to over 170 calls in Co
Wicklow and beyond on behalf of the National Ambulance Service.

These include:

28 cardiac arrests, of which 7 survived to hospital discharge.

2 paediatric cardiac arrests

Over 30 Road Traffic Collisions

2 multiple casualty incidents

2 stabbings

1 shooting

Wicklow Rapid
Response
is a voluntary organisation, which aims to
provide near Intensive critical Care level treatment for our local communities
in the pre-hospital environment, where there are life-threatening
circumstances. Our volunteer emergency medical Doctor, who specialises in pre
hospital emergency medicine, using the Skoda Yeti Rapid Response vehicle, to
rapidly respond is declared as a National Ambulance Service asset. He is called
simultaneously with the Ambulance, when a serious emergency occurs.

In addition to responding
rapidly due to being available in the community, the WWRR doctor is also able
to bring additional skills and treatments to the patient. This year these
included:

§ 2 x General Anaesthetics (inducing a medical coma to place a patient on
life support)

§ 17 patients discharged at scene (avoiding the need to transport to the
Emergency Department)

Media
enquiries to:

Colm Dempsey

Chairman

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Press Release
May 2016

“Save a Life Day” ends with a life saved!

Wicklow Rapid Response and Wicklow Town Cardiac First Responders held a ‘Save a Life Day’ at Sinnott Autos, Wicklow Town on Saturday 14th May.

The event was designed to promote public awareness about the Chain of Survival and the important role that members of the public can play in this Chain of Survival, in order to save a life before the arrival of the professional emergency services.

Save a Life Day was also promoting the role of the volunteer Community Cardiac First Responders (CFRs) who respond in their local community and the senior clinical level that the Volunteer Doctor ofWicklow Rapid Response can bring to the Chain of Survival in County Wicklow.

The event was attended by representatives of the National Ambulance Service, Wicklow Fire Service and Blood Bikes East in addition to Community First Responders and the Wicklow Rapid Response Doctor.

Free training in the recognition and management of cardiac arrest, defibrillation and choking was provided to all members of the public who attended, with the result that the people of Wicklow are already a little bit safer as a result.

As the day neared its conclusion, the Volunteer Wicklow Rapid Response Doctor and National Ambulance Service crews were dispatched to a cardiac arrest in the vicinity of Sinnott Autos. The patient, who had collapsed, was already in the chain of survival and receiving live saving CPR and defibrillation from the public bystanders, which included off duty members of the National Ambulance Service and Dublin Fire Brigade as well as 5th Year student from Wicklow, Cian Keogh and local man, Keith Callaghan.

Cian, a 5th year student in Colaiste Cill Mhantain, had learnt CPR last year in transition year and Keith had completed a first aid course, through his employment only a few weeks ago.

Little did they know or think at the start of their day that they would be using their lifesaving skills before the end of the day.

The Volunteer Doctor and the WWRR team are, when available, always ready to respond to critical emergencies. As the Save a Life day was coming to an end and just as all the medical equipment that had been on display was packed back into the Skoda Yeti response jeep. The call for the cardiac arrest was received.

Thanks to the efforts of all involved, the patient is on the road to recovery.

Editor Notes:

Community First Responders such as Wicklow Town CFRs and similar CFR groups across Co. Wicklow, are volunteers who live or work in their community and help by providing an early response in the provision of primary lifesaving support to people who have called 999/112 and requested an ambulance because they are dealing with a Cardiac Arrest, Heart Attack (Chest Pain), choking or someone having a Stroke.

The Ambulance Service Control Centre alerts CFRs when required, and the volunteer responders who are on duty will respond and provide care to the patient till the Ambulance arrives.

All volunteers are trained to become A Cardiac First Responder and they will successfully complete a Pre Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC) approved Cardiac First Response course.

Chain of Survival

Sadly over 5,000 people in Ireland die every year in out of hospital cardiac arrests.

For every minute a patient is in cardiac arrest, their chances of survival decrease by 10%. It is essential that members of the public are able to perform CPR and use a defibrillator in the first few minutes.

The 5 links in the chain of survival are:

Recognition of cardiac arrest and activation of the emergency response system

Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with an emphasis on chest compressions

Rapid defibrillation

Basic and advanced emergency medical services

Advanced life support and post-cardiac arrest care

Thanks to the combined efforts of all involved, these links were completed at scene.

Wicklow Rapid Response is a voluntary organisation, which aims to provide near Intensive Care level treatment for our local communities in the pre-hospital environment, where there are life-threatening circumstances. Our volunteer emergency medical Doctor, who specialises in pre hospital emergency medicine, using the Skoda Yeti Rapid Response vehicle, to rapidly respond is declared as a National Ambulance Service Assets. He is called simultaneously with the Ambulance, when a serious emergency occurs.

Wicklow Town CFR meets monthly for training and is always seeking new volunteers to respond and fundraise Contact: cfrwicklowtown@gmail.com

Garda Adam Nolan officially launched the voluntary doctor led service for County Wicklow on Saturday at the Martello Hotel Bray.

The launch of Wicklow Rapid Response took place in conjunction with a CPR marathon, and World CPR record attempt being hosted by the volunteers of Bray Cardiac First Responders.

Wicklow Rapid Response Doctor

Staffed by volunteer Doctor David Menzies who is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at St. Vincent's University Hospital.He also has an academic commitment to the Paramedic and Advanced Paramedic Training Programmes at University College Dublin Centre for Emergency Medical Science in partnership with the National Ambulance Service. Dr Menzies responds in his own time from home and also from work when circumstances allow. He is one of only 5 doctors on call to the National Ambulance Service country wide and the only such doctor in the east of the country.

Calls for assistance from WWRR come either directly from NAS control in Tallaght or from the crews already on scene where they have identified a need for specialist assistance.

Wicklow Rapid Response (WWRR)

Wicklow Rapid Response (WWRR) is a voluntary group working in partnership with and supporting the existing Emergency Services. Our Rapid Response vehicle and volunteer doctor is a declared National Ambulance Service Asset and is called simultaneously with the state services when a serious emergency occurs. Our team voluntarily supports their community by responding to these life threatening emergencies in a manner similar to the civilian CFRs and also affiliated to the parent organisation Irish Community Rapid Response (ICRR, www.icrr.ie).

ICRR teams nationally work with and compliment all front-line emergency services including the National Ambulance Service (NAS), the Coast Guard, the Fire Service, the RNLI and the Air ambulance which is run by the Air Corps and National Ambulance service. Irish Community Rapid Response aims to put the right people in the right place at the right time with the right equipment and the right skills to achieve the right outcome.

We aim to provide near Intensive Care level treatment for rural communities in the pre-hospital environment in life threatening circumstances by volunteer emergency medical personnel; an Ireland where lives are saved regularly by maximising existing resources in rural areas to facilitate in-time response to emergency trauma events. Ireland has a significant rural population in areas where emergency services are already thin on the ground with limited hours of service, and these limited services are being cut back. Emergency services can take a long time to get to critical emergency events depending on the distance between the ambulance dispatch location and the person in need.

Ambulance care teams have a “ceiling” in terms of the levels of care they can administer when they arrive at the scene of an emergency. On occasion, advanced critical care interventions from a trained specialist physician can be lifesaving. These interventions can include: advanced drug therapy and analgesia, critical procedures including general anaesthesia and roadside surgery.

Our aim is to develop a volunteer model of pre-Hospital emergency medicine in Ireland by using physicians supported by communities working under the NAS. There are times in parts of Ireland where it can take over one hour transport time to get a patient to a centre of excellent emergency department, our aim is to maximise resources in the community complementing the existing pre hospital care existing services.

Currently, there are 2 regional teams, namely West Cork & East Cork Rapid Response. All ICRR teams are equipped to provide specialist care as per the standards set down by the Association of Anaesthetists, the Prehospital Emergency Care Council and the clinical guidelines of the National Ambulance Service.

These teams are made up of medical and community volunteers, both of which are critically important in ensuring a well-run, locally based, sustainable organisation. ICRR’s central goal is to assist community and medical volunteers develop their Rapid Response team in their own area of the country through organisational, training and logistical assistance.

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We are back again

Save a Life Day 2017 this Saturday at Sinnott Skoda, Wicklow Town 10-2,
here’s a quick look back at last year!

Meet the Emergency Services & CFR Responders & learn how to do CPR
and SAVE A LIFE!